Lovely Doll
by Spunky0ne
Summary: Byakuya is given a mission to take Aizen Sosuke to meet the Soul King, but immediately, Aizen senses there is more to the situation than meets the eye. Still, Byakuya is a delectable temptation...almost good enough to die for!...yaoi, mpreg...Aizen/Byakuya, Renji/Tetsuya, Kisuke/Ichigo
1. Called

**Lovely Doll**

**Chapter 1: Called**

Kuchiki Tetsuya came awake suddenly, his wide sapphire eyes blinking in the darkness and his sharp senses piqued. He worked his way free from the strong, tanned and tattooed arms of his red haired lover and slipped out of bed, moving on silent feet towards the open garden doors. A shiver of uncertainty passed through his slender body as he looked out into the night and found a tall, glowing pillar that appeared to have crashed down into the center of the gardens. He started to step forward, then gasped and whirled about as a hand came down on his shoulder.

"Renji!" he hissed, his heart pounding, "You scared the life out of me!"

"What's..." Renji began, but he was quickly hushed by a pale hand that covered his mouth.

"Look," Tetsuya whispered, pointing.

Renji's red-brown eyes followed Tetsuya's gesture, and widened as they took in the sight of the huge, white pillar.

"A Tenchuuren?" the redhead breathed, remembering the divine pillars that served as a vehicle for the Royal Guard, "Here? What the...?"

Tetsuya slipped out onto the walkway, then onto the grass, oblivious to the cold as he concealed himself within the bushes and Renji took up a position at his side.

"I wonder what's going on," the redhead mused, watching closely as a cloaked figure emerged from the pillar and started towards Byakuya's bedroom.

"No word was given that there would be a royal visitor," said Tetsuya, "But sometimes we are simply not told what they are about. They are a level above the noble class in the royal hierarchy. I assume this means that a royal edict was issued, but..."

He paused as the cloaked figure exited Byakuya's room, carrying the sleeping clan leader in his arms.

"What is he doing?" cried Renji, breaking free of the bushes, "Hey!"

"Renji, no!" Tetsuya gasped, following, "We are not allowed to interfere with them!"

The two young men slid to a stop as the person carrying Byakuya turned in their direction, and a bright flash erupted from the person's extended fingertips. Before the two stunned shinigamis could move, the odd light struck them, and Renji and Tetsuya collapsed, losing consciousness instantly. A second person emerged from the Tenchuuren and greeted the first.

"What should we do with them?" asked a male voice, emanating from the person carrying Byakuya.

"Leave them be," a feminine voice replied calmly, "They will remember nothing of this when they wake."

"Hmmm."

The man carried Byakuya into the Tenchuuren as his companion lifted a skeletal hand and touched the pillar. The pillar shimmered, then slowly shrank down to the size of a small toy. The woman's lips smiled as she picked up the shrunken pillar and slipped it into her pocket. She turned back for a moment, studying the two motionless forms on the ground, then turned her back on them and flash stepped away.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ugh..." groaned Ichigo, moving sluggishly as Kisuke gently extracted himself from the younger man's snug embrace, "Where are you going? It's only four. What's going on?"

"A hell butterfly from Kuchiki Manor," the shopkeeper answered, yawning and swatting away the hell butterfly that had awakened him, "Something about Renji and Tetsuya being found unconscious in the gardens there."

"Really?" Ichigo asked, coming fully awake at the mention of his friends, "Are they okay? What happened to them?"

"They were taken to the fourth division. Kotetsu fukutaicho sent the hell butterfly to ask me to come in for a consult. You can tag along if you want. I know you'll want to check in with Rukia and see how Renji and Tetsuya are when we get there."

"Right," Ichigo agreed, climbing out of bed and looking around for his clothes.

"Allow me," Urahara said, grinning as he picked up his cane and touched the bottom to Ichigo's chest.

Ichigo's human body dropped to the ground and his shinigami form emerged, fully dressed in his shihakushou. Kisuke lifted Ichigo's body and deposited it back in the bed, before quickly dressing and then heading for the underground training area, with Ichigo at his side.

"What did they tell you?" Ichigo asked, his brown eyes intense with concern.

"Not much," Kisuke answered, leading him into the senkaimon, "Seems that Renji and Tetsuya were found by two guards on duty this morning, collapsed in the garden and unable to be roused. They had the clan leader take a look at them, but he couldn't determine what happened to them. So, Byakuya had them taken to the fourth and asked Kotetsu fukutaicho to consult with me about it."

"Huh," mused the shinigami substitute, "That's weird. Byakuya asking for your help? I thought he was still kinda pissed over you and Yoruichi taking off together when Aizen set you up to be banished. I know he blamed you for Yoruichi disappearing."

"Yeah," Kisuke admitted, "And I don't really blame him for being upset. Despite what it looked like, he and Yoruichi were close when he was younger. After losing his parents, Yoruichi was the one who spent the most time with him. She trained him extensively in shunpo and hakudo. They were tight, even though he pretended to hate her."

"Ah."

"For him to ask specifically for my help suggests that he's really concerned about those two."

"I hope they're okay," said Ichigo, "Rukia's got to be a mess. She is really close to both Renji and Tetsuya."

"Yeah, well, don't worry. We'll get them sorted out."

The two went quiet then, their footsteps echoing dully as they continued on their way through the precipice world. They emerged out of the central senkaimon, then flash stepped to the fourth division. Kotetsu Isane met them at the front doors and guided them swiftly through the lobby, and down several hallways to an isolation room.

"We had to quarantine the two, as we weren't sure if this was an illness, an injury or some kind of attack. I have examined them thoroughly and ordered blood and reiatsu panels, but nothing has come back from the lab yet."

"Kisuke!" Rukia exclaimed as she spotted them, "Ichigo! Thank goodness you're here."

"We came as soon as we got Isane-san's message," said Ichigo.

He looked in the window at the two men who laid in the beds in the isolation room.

"How are they doing?" he asked.

Byakuya met his eyes solemnly.

"Their conditions are stable, but we cannot wake them," he reported.

"Can you tell me what happened?" asked Kisuke.

"We don't know," said Rukia.

"Two house guards sounded an alert, early this morning and informed us that they had found Renji and Tetsuya collapsed in the gardens," Byakuya explained, "They were cold and unresponsive. They are alive, but no one seems to be able to wake them. Oddly, they seem to have been in that place in the gardens through a shift change. As cold as they were, they had to have been there for some time. And they should have been discovered when the guard changed, but somehow weren't noticed by the guards going off or on duty that had to pass right by them."

"Well, that's definitely not normal," commented Kisuke, "Were there any visible injuries?"

"No," Byakuya went on, "Neither had any signs of injury or illness, and no one else was seen or sensed in the gardens except for the house guards."

"This just gets stranger and stranger," commented Rukia, looking in at her cousin and her best friend, "I just wish that they would wake up and tell us what happened."

"Hey," said Ichigo, slipping an arm around his distraught friend, "They're gonna be okay. They're not sick or badly hurt right? They're just asleep."

"But they won't wake up!" Rukia said worriedly, "Even Isane-san couldn't wake them up!"

"Well, then let's have a look, okay?" said Kisuke, following Isane into the treatment room.

So, Isane-san?" Kisuke asked, "What's your impression?"

The healer looked down at the two unconscious men, then back at Urahara.

"I believe that they were attacked," she said with certainty, "They were struck by some power that seems to confound our efforts to identify it."

"But they aren't in danger of dying?"

"I do not believe so," Isane said, "but it is distressing that so much time has passed and they are still unconscious. And all of the usual methods of waking them have failed."

"And it makes a person wonder what they came across that they maybe weren't supposed to see."

"What do you mean?" asked Isane.

"Well," said the shopkeeper, "They were hit with a non-lethal blast that knocked them out, but apparently, wasn't meant to kill them. This intruder, whoever it was, just wanted them quiet and out of the way for a while. But the questions is, what was that person doing while the boys here were napping on the lawn?"

He turned back to Byakuya, who had joined them in the room.

"What did the house guards have to say?" he asked the noble.

Byakuya shook his head.

"No one saw or sensed anyone suspicious in the house or gardens all night," he reported, "All check-ins were normal, all night long."

"And yet, these two guys were left, passed out on the grass and even the changing guards who walked right past them didn't notice them. That's either a pretty strong illusion type charm, or your house guards are alarmingly obtuse, Byakuya-san."

"Tetsuya, himself, heads the house security staff," Byakuya countered, "They are all powerful and highly capable officers. And as I also sensed nothing odd during the night."

"Hmm," Kisuke mused, gazing at the noble for a moment.

He moved suddenly, shocking the unsuspecting noble with a flicker of kido, then catching him as he collapsed.

"What the hell?" yelled Ichigo, from where he and Rukia watched through the window, outside the room.

"Kisuke!" shouted Rukia.

Inside the room, Unohana taicho turned a curious eye on the shopkeeper.

"I expect you have a reason for adding yet another unconscious person to my ward?" she asked in a surprisingly calm manner.

"Yeah," Kisuke chuckled, "Sorry about that. But it occurred to me that someone able to mess with such a highly capable security staff would probably be there for one thing..._him_. I think you should check Kuchiki taicho out and see if he's himself or just a pretty double."

"You think he may have been replaced?" asked the healer, "Why?"

"I don't know yet," Kisuke said, shaking his head and turning the noble's limp body over to a pair of healers who had rushed into the room, "But I would suggest running full panels and checking him out psychologically, just to be sure. It seems awfully suspicious that someone got the drop on a sharp guy like Tetsuya. Has anyone checked the Kuchiki archive to see if there was an entry during the time that Tetsuya and Renji were unconscious?"

"I don't know," said Unohana, "but I understand why you ask."

"Right," Kisuke said, nodding, "That's the _other_ possible target at Kuchiki Manor besides Byakuya-san, here. The Kuchiki family archive contains the most comprehensive history of Soul Society, along with a lot of interesting and some dangerous goodies in the vault there."

"Unfortunately," said Unohana, raising an eyebrow, "as you have knocked out the only person with access to the archive, we will have to wait until Byakuya-san wakes to check the archive records."

"Ah, you have a point there. Sorry about that."

"I will go and see to the blood and reiatsu tests on Kuchiki taicho while you have a look at the other two patients, here," Unohana said, following the healers carrying Byakuya out of the room.

"Thank you, Unohana-san," Kisuke said, nodding, "All right. Let's see what we have here."

The shopkeeper moved forward and leaned over Tetsuya's motionless form.

"A deep sleep. No REM activity," Kisuke mumbled, frowning, "I don't sense any foreign reiatsu, which means that if he was attacked, the attacker was on a level that we don't want to think about. Espada maybe or very high level shinigami. It would have to be to take these guys by surprise and knock them loopy."

He opened Tetsuya's yukata and studied his body carefully.

"No obvious signs of physical trauma. Had sex recently. Looks like Renji topped tonight."

"We didn't need to know that," Ichigo said dryly.

"Spirit centers are functioning normally. No sign of internal damage."

He paused for a moment, then snickered.

"What is it? What did you find?" demanded Rukia.

"Eh...maybe I'll just forget I saw that," chuckled Kisuke.

"Saw what?" asked Ichigo, "Kisuke...?"

"Looks like someone forgot to charge the pregnancy protection charm. Renji's little playmate, here, is carrying an extra!"

"What!" Rukia and Ichigo shouted.

"Whoa!" Ichigo went on, "He's a _guy_! How does that work?"

"Oh, right," laughed Kisuke, "You don't know. Noble male shinigamis are...a little _different_. You see, when the spirit king made them, he wanted to be sure that they would procreate...ahm...whether they got together with girls or other guys. So, when a noble male is taken by another male, his body forms a reiatsu chamber inside and captures the genetic material, then forms it into a reiatsu cluster. The cluster matures inside the shinigami's body for several months, then emerges through the abdominal wall and is born, then solidifies into shinigami form. The duration of the male pregnancy is generally shorter than a traditional pregnancy, and the only discomfort is while the abdominal wall loses some cohesion to allow the cluster to pass through. It's pretty interesting, really."

"Heh," chuckled Ichigo, smirking, "I wonder if 'Daddy Renji's' going to think so!"

"Shut up!" laughed Rukia, "Renji is head over heels in love with Tetsuya-san. He's going to be on top of the world. He's been working on Tetsuya-san to marry him, but Tetsuya-san was afraid to ask Nii-sama because there is still some disapproval amongst the elders when a clan member wants to marry a commoner."

"Well, they probably won't give these guys any trouble now," Kisuke mused, shaking his head and grinning.

He closed Tetsuya's yukata and moved on to Renji.

"Also in a deep sleep, no REM. No sign of physical injury."

Rukia and Ichigo exhanged amused glances.

"Had sex recently," they said together.

"How did you guess?" asked Kisuke, "And topped. Spirit centers are fine and functioning normally. I'm finding nothing that explains why these two are still out cold. Damn."

He started to say more, but stopped as Isane entered the room, carrying two medical charts.

"Unohana taicho thought that you should have a look at these while she finishes the tests being run on Kuchiki taicho."

"Great, thanks," said Kisuke, taking the charts and opening Tetsuya's, "Blood panel's normal. Reiatsu indicates a pregnancy, but is otherwise normal."

He paused and squinted at one test result, then quickly consulted Renji's chart.

"What is it?" asked Ichigo, "Did you find something?"

"Maybe," said the shopkeeper, "You see..."

He broke off as a low rumble went through the building and the division alarms began to ring.

"What the...!" Kisuke breathed.

The rest of his words were drowned out by the sound of a muted explosion.

Kisuke was out the door and down the hallway in a flash step, with Rukia, Ichigo and Isane on his heels. They slid to a stop outside an examination room that now had smoke pouring out of it. Unohana taicho and Hanatarou stood outside the room, staring into it in surprise.

"What happened?" asked Kisuke, "Was Byakuya-san in there?"

"No," said Unohana firmly, "The person that was in there was not Kuchiki taicho, nor even a shinigami."

"Then, what was it?" Kisuke asked, staring.

"I do not know," the healer confessed, "As soon as I began the tests, I sensed a flare of errant reiatsu, a dangerous surge of power. We had to evacuate the room. And whatever was in there, exploded and left only ash behind."

"Huh," said Kisuke, frowning more deeply, "Someone A, didn't want us to know Byakuya-san was missing and B, wanted to make sure that if we did find out, we couldn't figure out how he had been replaced."

"But where is Nii-sama!" cried Rukia, "If that wasn't him, then where is he?"

"Probably with the person who knocked out Renji and Tetsuya," Ichigo said angrily, "Damn it! How are we going to find him?"

"I don't know," Kisuke confessed, "But I think we have to start with what Renji-san and Tetsuya-san know."

"But how can we find out what they know if they won't wake up?" Rukia objected.

"I'll let Unohana taicho work on that," Kisuke said, turning towards the door, "I'm going to Kuchiki Manor to have a look around."

"You want me to come with you?" asked Ichigo.

"Naw, you stay here and keep Rukia-chan company. I've got this. I'll be back as soon as I see if there's any evidence to collect."

"Okay," Ichigo agreed, "But let us know what you find there, okay?"

"Sure thing."

Rukia and Ichigo watched as Kisuke left, then walked slowly back to Tetsuya and Renji's room. Both stopped short in the doorway, noting that Tetsuya was sitting up and looking around with a confused expression.

"R-rukia-chan?" he queried uncertainly, "What happened? How did I get here?"

He spotted Renji in the bed next to his and staggered to his feet, his face paling.

"Renji-san!" he cried, shaking the redhead urgently, "Renji-san, wake up!"

"Whoa, hey, take it easy!" Renji groaned drowsily, "What's all the racket?"

He blinked, then smiled up at Tetsuya.

"Are you all right?" Tetsuya asked worriedly.

"I'm fine,"' Renji assured him, "But how in the hell did we end up here? Weren't we at your place?"

"You guys passed out!" Rukia explained, "In the gardens. Don't you remember?"

Tetsuya frowned and shook his head.

"No," he confessed, "I only remember going to sleep next to Renji-san."

"That's all I remember too," said Renji, shaking his head to clear it, "What happened? How did we get here?"

"Someone broke into the manor and attacked you," Ichigo explained.

"What?" Tetsuya gasped, his blue eyes blazing.

"It gets worse," said Rukia, "We don't know who it was, but we do know one thing. They took Nii-sama!"


	2. Beloved Servant

**Chapter 2: Beloved Servant**

"Arigato, Shutara," the soul king said quietly, standing at the foot of the large, soft bed and gazing down at the man sleeping there, "But I understand there was trouble?"

"Oh," said the lady guard, smiling, "It was nothing I couldn't handle. There were two witnesses to us taking him, but they will be out for a while, and will not remember anything. They will have no idea we were even there."

"I hope not. I was hoping to avoid unnecessary attention on this particular mission," the king explained, "Leave us now. I need to speak to Byakuya alone."

"Yes, my lord."

The soul king watched as the guardswoman left, then contemplated Byakuya's sleeping form before moving closer and gently bringing him back to wakefulness. Byakuya's eyes blinked slowly, then fluttered nervously for a moment, before taking in the handsome visage of the king and catching his breath in surprise.

"M-my lord?" he breathed, staring, "Is this...real? Am I still sleeping?"

The king smiled warmly.

"You are neither asleep anymore, nor dreaming, Byakuya," he said, laying a palm on the noble's soft cheek, "I have called you to me for a special purpose...a mission of great importance. But my attendant has left us some tea to enjoy while we talk. Try some. It will help to revive you a bit."

"But, how did I get here?" the noble asked, sitting up slowly, "I was asleep at home."

He looked down at himself and frowned.

"I am still in my nightclothes."

He noticed the somewhat hungry look in the king's strange eyes and felt an odd shiver pass through him.

"If I may, why have you called me here, my lord?" Byakuya asked, taking a sip of the tea, "You said it was a special task?"

The king's smile warmed.

"Yes," the monarch answered, "It is one that you have the specific qualities to complete successfully. In fact, when I created your soul, it was in response to the actions of another soul I created...one that started out in a promising way, but then went astray. And while it is not usually so distressing when a soul chooses a dark path, this particular soul was made with a unique purpose."

He closed his eyes for a moment, picturing the man in his mind, then opened them again and looked into Byakuya's curious eyes.

"You are familiar with the criminal, Aizen Sousuke?"

"Of course," Byakuya answered, tilting his head questioningly, "Everyone in the Seireitei is aware of his motives against you. He made them quite clear when he fought against us in the battle for Karkura Town."

"Yes, he did," The king agreed, fixing the noble in place with his powerful gaze and moving in closer, "He has said that he will continue to work against me, because he does not believe that I am capable of defending myself against him. But, he is about to be proven very, very wrong."

"But," Byakuya said, shifting uncomfortably, blushing and pulling his sleeping yukata more firmly closed, "Aizen Sousuke is in the prison. Surely, it would be easy enough to accomplish whatever you want. Why do you need me?"

"Why indeed?" the king said, smiling at him in a way that made his blush deepen, "Byakuya, you are well aware of the fact that Aizen has fused his soul with that of the hougyoku, ne?"

"Yes, it was in the report given to the taichos and witnessed by Kurosaki Ichigo and Urahara Kisuke."

"It is very difficult, though not completely impossible to separate one soul from another that has fused with it. However, your soul is very specially made. And you are able to separate Aizen Sousuke from the hogyoku, as others are not, because of this. This will be your task, Byakuya. You will go to Aizen Sosuke. You will engage him sexually, and slowly, over time, the hogyoku's power will seep into your body."

Byakuya's eyes widened in distress, and the hand that held his nightclothes closed trembled softly.

"M-my lord, you want me to...!"

"I know," the king said in a soothing and sympathetic tone, sliding an arm around the noble's slender shoulders, "It is not in your nature to act so scandalously, ne?"

"N-no..."

"And to be forced to join your lovely, celestial body with that dark, malevolent spirit is, well, truly repulsive, I know."

"I don't think I can..."

"Of course you can," the king said, his embrace sending odd shivers through the noble, "As I said, I made you for this task. Everything, Byakuya, everything about you is designed for this. Your guileless face, those deep, beautiful eyes, that pleasing, sweet sakura scent and your soft skin. A great deal of artistry went into your making. And you will use that now to lure Aizen Sosuke into giving up the hogyoku to me!"

"But, will the artifact not affect me when I take its power into my body?" Byakuya asked, "And how will you remove it? And what happens then?"

"So many questions," the king purred in his ear, his breath making Byakuya's skin blush, "First things first, I must prepare your boy to receive the hogyoku."

"And that is done...?"

The king smiled in a way that made his flesh crawl, then moved forward, laying him slowly down on his back and opening his yukata.

"My lord!" Byakuya protested, "I don't know if I..."

"You belong to me, ne?" the king breathed in his ear, making his stomach quiver inside, "You are an obedient servant, and you will do _exactly_ what I have told you to do."

Despite his misgivings, Byakuya knew better than to question his king's orders. Instead, he laid quietly in the king's embrace as the monarch's golden eyes glared down at him and the king's fingers undressed him. The king leaned over the silent, somber-faced noble, admiring the beauty of the man and smirking as he considered how well-made he was, and how quickly he would undo the devilish, unrepentant rogue shinigami.

_You were supposed to be my lover and consort, Aizen Sosuke! I gave you great beauty and outstanding power among the shinigamis. I made you deliciously different, fully unique, and how did you repay me? You created the hogyoku to make you strong enough to overcome me. But once Byakuya returns and I devour him and the hogyoku within him, you will never again dream of being stronger than me! I will eat you slowly and painfully. You will very much regret rejecting your king. You will die with regret in your eyes and pouring out of your mouth!_

The king felt Byakuya flinch uncomfortably under his hands, and he realized that the flare of errant reiatsu around him was burning the noble's fine skin. He reined in his power, watching the look of pain drain from Byakuya's unnerved eyes, then lowered his lips to the noble's.

Byakuya held perfectly still as the king's mouth claimed his, fighting a turbulent heart, but determined to please his king. But even resolved to serve faithfully, he felt sick inside as the king's hands caressed his body possessively, as the man's invasive fingers entered him and began to prepare his body for their joining.

"Are you all right, Byakuya, dear?" the king asked sedately.

"I will be fine," the noble assured the king, his heart aching strangely and his body trembling at knowing what the monarch was about to do to him, "It is just that I have only ever been with Hisana. I have never been with a man before."

"I know," the king acknowledged, "But while I prime your body for your mission tonight, I will also educate you in exactly how to please that man. Remember, I created him. I know Aizen Sosuke in ways that no one else does. And once I have completed your preparations tonight, you will be able to anticipate him, to tease him, to lure him in. Like a lovely doll, you will give yourself into his arms and give him pleasure. And while you pleasure him, he will begin to feel the strength seep out of him. But, bound as he is, he will not be able to do anything as he is slowly and inexorably relieved of his power. You will take everything back that I gave him, and then you will return to me. For your sacrifice, I will reward you greatly upon your return, Byakuya. But lie still now. Close your eyes."

It was a relief to Byakuya that he no longer had to meet the king's powerful eyes directly, but as the monarch brushed his eyes closed and kissed him again, the noble felt a chill slice through him, a sense that something was very, very wrong with what was happening. The king, of course, had every right to demand what he wanted from the noble families, but he had always been a solemn, quiet and respectful monarch, preferring to allow his subjects to choose their own paths. He withheld his influence, except when it was needed to keep the careful balances in their worlds, never out of rages of emotions, but always with caution and foresight.

_For him to, not just have me reclaim Aizen's power, but to do this in such a way, while the man is bound and unable to resist. It...suggests a much more cruel soul than I know our king to be!_

_Something is wrong, but having no right to resist him, I cannot stop it!_

_Still, I must find a way to do something._

_But what?_

He was distracted out of his thoughts by the feeling of sharp nails biting into his skin. He felt the king's mouth fastening on his, and the flares of his power all around them. He groaned in distress as the monarch pushed his bare thighs apart and claimed his body in a hard thrust that forced the air out of his lungs in a cry of intense pain.

He wasn't sure what he expected in response, but his concern turned to outright fear as the king's mouth devoured his cry and quivered with lust at the sound. Barely giving the noble time to suck in another breath, he began to move, gripping Byakuya tightly and panting harshly into his ear as he used the stunned noble to pleasure himself.

_Why is he doing this? Did he say that this was how I would be prepared for my mission? I have never heard of anything like this...except perhaps, in the older myths, the ancient ones. There were beings of great power who did use sex to infuse and corrupt souls with their power, and send them to do horrid things against their will. But why would our king resort to such methods? Aizen is in our prisons. And certainly, he could openly send me to retrieve the hogyoku's power without all of this._

_I don't understand!_

"Move with me!" the king hissed in his ear, "You lie too still. You are too passive. I did not make you so beautiful to have you lie there like a mannequin. I know that you do not desire me right now, but your body will come to hunger for mine until it begins to writhe at just the thought of being touched by me!"

Again, it nagged at him that what the king described hearkened back to the ancient myths, the stories of struggles between the shingami lords and spiritual demons. And so unnerved by his worries, Byakuya let his eyes slide the slightest bit open, to view the man on top of him again. At the sight that met him, his body froze and his eyes flew open wide.

The king he remembered was gone, and Byakuya found himself in the grip of a glowing, demonic nightmare. The body on top of his was still rakishly lovely, his body perfectly sculpted, but toned in red and blazing with dangerous heat. Huge swells of power surrounded him and gathered in the area of his loins as he neared climax. His face was angular and coldly beautiful, but his golden eyes harbored the promise of deep cruelty and deadly hatred. He smiled wickedly as he realized that the noble had seen him.

"Ah, so defiant, aren't you?" he mused, sending a jolt through Byakuya that paralyzed him, "You couldn't even manage to follow the rules of the clan I gave you to lead, but defied them and married that peasant trash. You are the child of gods and kings, Byakuya! You do not belong in unworthy arms like that. And _that_ is why I made her die."

"Y-you...?"

"You realize, only now that it is too late. I was not your king, but a lone demon who survived the extermination many thousands of years ago. I laid in wait, until I saw the creation of Aizen Sosuke, and then, I changed the course of his life, turning him into the hateful, awful being that tried to destroy his own creator. Then, while the king deliberated over what to do with his wayward consort, I appeared to him and told him that I could destroy the hogyoku. He refused to entrust this to me, and so I devoured him and took his place, here. He had already made you, but I saw greater usefulness in you. And now, you will serve that greater purpose. Do not worry. I know that your noble heart could not bear the strain of this task, so you will be spared that weight. Sleep now, Byakuya! When you wake again, you will be home."

Byakuya felt the demon's body seize and felt the explosion inside him of wickedness so unbearable, he would have screamed if the ability to do so hadn't been taken. He reeled as that evil essence curled in his midsection, invading his heart and assaulting his inner core. The king read in his tormented eyes, how close he was to succumbing to the too powerful forces invading him, and invoked unconsciousness, sending his mind spinning into blackness.

"Your majesty," called a youthful, male voice from outside his door, "A messenger to see you, sir!"

The demon crawled off of Byakuya's plundered body, pausing for a moment to take a long lick at his sweat dampened flesh before letting his power swirl around him and returning his visage to that of the dead soul king. He got up from the bed and turned back to lay a blanket over the naked noble, then walked quietly to the door and opened it. He nodded to the messenger, who stood alongside his attendant.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Sir, Lady Shutara reports that the reigai we sent to replace Kuchiki Byakuya has been discovered."

"And?" the king said sedately.

"It self destructed, as programmed," the messenger went on, "Lady Shutara is confirming that she should employ the alternate method for his return, as suspicion has been aroused."

"Tell her to go ahead with the alternate plan. I will be finished..._consulting_ with him about his mission and have him ready to be removed from the spirit dimension in an hour."

"Very well, my lord, I will pass on the message."

"Thank you, Jun," the king said, smiling to himself as he closed the chamber door.

He turned back to the unconscious noble in his bed and sat down alongside him, admiring his pale, lovely form.

"It seems a crime to let that filth touch you," he mused, "But, do not worry. You will not suffer long before your mission is done and you will be relieved of the weight of living. But, before you go, let me infuse you with the strength you will need to see this through."

He leaned over the Kuchiki clan leader, laying a hand on his face and another over his breached heart, and let his demonic reiatsu flow into Byakuya's body for a time. He slowed the infusion gradually, stopping as the shinigami's body trembled with the strain of containing the power being sent into it. He took his time, then, bathing and dressing the noble, then laid him back in the bed and waited quietly for the royal guardswoman to arrive.

He was careful to mask his reiatsu thoroughly in her presence, and hurried her on her way, once she was in possession of the unconscious man, then he walked out onto his balcony and stood, looking into the royal gardens.

_Soon._

_Soon, I will have the power to overwhelm those five. I can stop pretending and use the hogyoku so that I can kill them all...the royal guard, Urahara Kisuke and Aizen Sosuke...the only ones left who can possibly oppose me._

XXXXXXXXXX

_Aizen Sosuke._

Aizen stirred and sucked in a long, slow breath, bringing himself out of the heavy drowse of boredom that came with being bound and incarcerated in the bowels of Central 46.

"Hogyoku," he whispered softly, "You haven't spoken to me in a long time."

_You proved to be unworthy to be my master, _the hogyoku acknowledged, _but that does not mean that you are wholly useless._

"I see," Aizen said, drawing another slow breath and running his one uncovered eye around the cell, "So, what is it that you wish of me? I am, as you see, unable to do much more than sit and talk. I have minimal ability to use my illusions."

_I am aware, but that is not why I spoke to you._

"Oh?"

_I sense danger approaching. A malevolent eye touched me and I felt the quickening of a heart more wicked than yours._

"More wicked than mine, you say?" repeated Aizen, "But, why does this matter? You and I are fused together, ne? No one knows a way to separate our souls and none can destroy us, so why do you fret?"

_I have foreseen that the one who could kill us will wear an angel's face and will come to us soon. When it does, we must resist it, or it will kill us both!_

"But we are immortal."

_That immortality is only in this world. We are not truly immortal, it is just that only another transcendent can kill us. The one who comes, bears transcendent power._

"But," Aizen said dulcetly, his lips quirking, "It will have to remove us to the spirit dimension to claim us, ne?"

_I believe so, but it would be dangerous to assume._

"Still, to be freed of this place would be a relief, and we can certainly resist whoever this is...that is, if you will work with me and lend me your power."

_You are not worthy of my power, _the hogyoku said mockingly.

"But _you_ are going to need me to protect you form whatever that _thing_ pursuing you decides to do. Think carefully before you refuse me, Hogyoku."

The spirit within the hogyoku went silent, then, leaving Aizen gazing quietly into the darkness, his heart, for the first time in a long time, hopeful.

_Come then, challenge me, whoever you are. _

_I look forward to it. _

_I will annihilate you._

_I will annihilate you and I will be free again!_


	3. Come to Me

**Chapter 3: Come to Me**

"Nii-sama!" Rukia's tearful voice whispered desperately, "Nii-sama, please wake up!"

Byakuya groaned and stirred sluggishly, but couldn't make his eyes open.

"Byakuya-sama, you are safe now," Tetsuya's voice said soothingly.

"Taicho, we're taking you to the fourth division for a checkup to make sure those bastards who grabbed you didn't do anything to you."

"Wh-what?" the clan leader managed haltingly, his scrambled senses trying to regather themselves, "What is going on?"

His eyelids fluttered and slowly opened, and he found himself looking up into the somewhat battered faces of Rukia, Renji and Tetsuya.

"What happened?" he groaned, wincing as he tried to move and encountered strange flashes of pain all over, "How did I get here?"

He was, he realized, lying in some kind of transport vehicle, with the three at his side and a familiar healer leaning over him.

"H-hanataro?"

"Yes, Kuchiki taicho," the youth answered, nodding, "I am glad to see you are awake. You don't seem to have any serious injuries, sir, but because you were abducted, Unohana taicho will need to fully examine you, herself."

"Let's just hope this isn't another exploding fake," Renji whispered to Tetsuya.

Tetsuya bit at his lips nervously and nodded in agreement.

"But, what happened to me?" Byakuya asked in a confused voice, "How was I abducted? The last thing I recall, I was sleeping in my bed. And then, I woke up here. And what happened to all of you? Are you all right?"

"We are all fine," Tetsuya assured him, "We were only a little beat up from the effort of rescuing you..."

"Which _he _shouldn't have been doing in his condition!" Renji said in an annoyed tone.

"In his condition?" Byakuya repeated, frowning, "What..?"

"It is nothing," Tetsuya said, shaking his head and waving Renji off, "It is a long story, best saved for when you are feeling better. In any case, I am more concerned about you right now. Something strange is going on. Something very strange, indeed."

Byakuya took a steadying breath and felt the heavy fog in his mind begin to lift away.

"It is obvious," he said solemnly, "that there is much going on that we cannot make sense of, but let us take it from the start and see if we cannot reason it out. The last thing I remember was going to bed in my own room. So it seems that I was abducted while I slept. What else happened that night?"

"We are not certain," Tetsuya explained, "But Renji-san and I were discovered having lain in plain sight in the gardens through the night, even through a security shift change! It is just not possible that the guards could walk right past us and not see us there. But oddly, that is exactly what seems to have happened."

"And when someone did find us," Renji went on, "_you_, or at least, someone we _thought_ was you, had Tetsuya-san and me taken to the fourth for treatment. But we couldn't be awakened. No one could figure out why."

"Unohana taicho contacted Urahara Kisuke," Rukia added, "and while he was examining Renji-san and Tetsuya-san, he realized that the person with us that we thought was you was really a fake."

"What?" Byakuya breathed, looking alarmed.

"It was a fake," Tetsuya went on, "and when they tried to examine it to find information about who sent it, the fake exploded!"

"Which is when we realized the ones who we were dealing with weren't just in it for fun and games," Renji said, "We went back to the manor and there was a big investigation, but we couldn't find anything to explain what had happened. We couldn't find anything useful at all!"

"And amidst our search, we received word from the second division that you had been sensed in the Rukongai. Renji and Rukia and I left immediately, while Urahara Kisuke returned to the living world to examine the blood, reiatsu and trace samples he took from all of us."

"We came down into the Rukongai," Rukia explained, "and we were able to hone in on your reiatsu. We found you in an old warehouse, bound, drugged and with evidence around you suggesting that the ones responsible were holding you for ransom."

"But strangely, no demands were ever received by the household or that council," Tetsuya finished."

"But what happened to the three of you?" Byakuya asked, frowning, "How were you injured?"

"Eh," Renji sighed, "The thugs that were holding you weren't really interested in just letting us take you back. So we kicked their asses."

"Well," the clan leader said, gathering himself, "it seems that disaster has been averted. Thankfully, you were able to retrieve me, and I assume you've turned the thugs over to the Gotei 13 for questioning."

"N-not exactly," Tetsuya said, shaking his head, "You see, it turns out that the ones who were holding you were the same kind of fakes as the one they used to replace you."

"They were?" Byakuya mused, "This seems quite intricate for a mere kidnapping for money."

"That is what we're thinking," agreed Renji, "Kisuke was really concerned about the type of power used to incapacitate Tetsuya and me. And he's not going to be happy when you return and can't add anything to the investigation."

"It seems, no matter where we turn, we run into walls," Tetsuya said, shaking his head.

"Well, enough about that," Byakuya said, regaining his composure, "We shall be grateful there was no real harm done and allow Urahara Kisuke to conduct his investigation. And in the meantime, I think I require an explanation of why my cousin purportedly should not be fighting. What is your condition, Tetsuya?"

The younger blushed and exchanged meaningful glances with Renji.

"It...ah...seems that when Renji and I were intimate, one of those times, the protection charm failed and...I am with child."

A look of mingled curiosity and pleasant surprise touched Byakuya's usually solemn features for a moment, then was replaced with a more stern demeanor as he regarded his also blushing fukutaicho.

"Ah, I see. And I will assume that as he is blessing our clan in such a way, he will also bless it by not allowing his beloved to be involved in a scandal for having a child out of wedlock?"

"B-byakuya-sama, we only just found out about it, and we haven't really..."

"What? Are you nuts?" Renji laughed, "Of course I'm gonna marry him! I've been trying for ages to get Tetsuya-san to ask your permission."

"And you were concerned about doing so, yourself, were you?" Byakuya asked, smirking.

"W-well, ah..."

"I suppose that in the face of such great joy as a child brings, I can overlook your scandalous behavior, and simply be appreciative that you are going to do the right thing."

He looked up at Tetsuya affectionately.

"But are you sure this is what you want, watashi no itoko? You have waited a long time for such a thing. Does this course please you?"

"Yes," Tetsuya said, smiling happily as Renji slipped an arm around him and pulled him close, "You cannot begin to know how happy this has made me, Byakuya-sama. Truly, I am overjoyed!"

"Then, I am happy for you. You have my permission and my blessing to be wed."

"Great!" Renji said, smiling proudly, "We are going to have the biggest celebration Kuchiki Manor's seen in an age!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hey," Ichigo yawned sleepily, scratching the back of his neck, then running his fingers through his ginger mane, "are you planning on coming to bed anytime soon? I was getting kinda cold in there by myself."

He noted the troubled expression on the shopkeeper's face as he pored over the information on his computer screen, then sighed and shook his head, scowling. Ichigo moved closer, sliding his arms around Kisuke and warming the skin of his throat with a nibbling kiss.

"You still at this?" he mused, "You've been up most of the night. C'mon, you should try to get some sleep. You'll think more clearly after you've rested. And you've told me that sometimes it's better to let your mind work on a problem while you're not distracted with other things."

"Yeah," Kisuke sighed, running his hands over his face, then turning his head to meet the Shiba heir's lips, "You're probably right. I really can't get any further based on what I have. I need to talk to Byakuya-san about what he remembers. Unfortunately, the hell butterfly he sent informed me that he really doesn't remember anything of the time he was in those guys' hands. He went to bed the night before the abduction and, to his mind, didn't wake up again until after the kids rescued him."

"That's just weird," Ichigo said, shaking his head, "It's strange that he wouldn't have regained consciousness at all. Probably means he had to be drugged, ne?"

"You'd think so," Kisuke agreed, "But that must be some drug, being able to knock out a guy Yoruichi trained on resisting most foreign compounds, and also overcoming Tetsuya-san and Renji-san. They weren't drugged, but they were out cold, just the same. And Ichigo, I can't explain it. I can't even begin to explain it."

"Not yet," Ichigo agreed, "but if I know you, you will."

"The thing that troubles me is the necessary level of power and the broadness of access this person or these people must have to be able to infiltrate Kuchiki Manor, take Byakuya-san without a fight, replace him with a sophisticated, exploding double, knock out Tetsuya-san, who you know never lets anything past him and overcome Renji-san, who is street smart and too strong to just be dropped in his tracks like that. This hits me like pretty high level interference. I'd almost dare to day, inter-dimensional."

Ichigo caught his breath softly, a mental image of the soul king entering his mind.

"You mean...it may be _them_ doing this?" he asked, frowning, "But Kisuke, Reio didn't seem to like interfering in the lives of people if he didn't have to. At least, that was what he was like when I was there before."

"Yeah," Kisuke agreed, "When I was there a long time ago, I got the same impression. But I haven't been there as recently as you and you hadn't met him before, so really we don't know how he might have changed since I knew him. And anyway, if the royals and their guards _are_ involved, I wonder why they'd be setting us up with exploding reigai fakes. I mean, obviously whoever's doing all of this wants to avoid being positively identified. But taking chances with people's lives? That's not something our king would do normally. At least, not the king I remember from before."

"Well," Ichigo said, yawning again, "I don't think you're going to get any farther tonight, just bashing your head against that computer. Come on to bed. Let me take your mind off that while you wait for the results of Byakuya's evaluation at the fourth."

"Yeah, you're right," Kisuke agreed, climbing to his feet and accepting several more hot, wet, open-mouthed kisses as the two made their way down the hallway, "I'm sure we'll know more once those results come in."

_I sure hope they find something more in their investigation. Because right now? We've got nothing._

_Nothing at all!_

XXXXXXXXXX

Byakuya tossed and turned in his sleep, struggling to keep himself comfortable as his mind battled with the huge array of questions that couldn't seem to be answered.

_What happened?_

_Who was able to slip so easily past the defenses of my home and take me away without me even waking? Who could get past Tetsuya, Renji and Rukia, as well as the house guard and carry me off without leaving a trace? Who has such easy access to reigai, which are supposed to be forbidden, and uses them to hide the truth of what is going on?_

_What is going on?_

He opened his eyes and squinted at the brightness of the moonlight that streamed in through the hospital window.

_I would sleep better at home...or at least, I would have before this. But this enemy, these people who took me from my home, are still out there. And we do not know why I was taken. They left evidence that it was to be a simple ransom, but everything in me tells me that is not the case. There is too much about this that defies reason!_

He caught his breath softly as his thoughts were interrupted by a very quiet and soothing male voice.

_Byakuya, it is time._

_Go to him now._

The clan leader's heart began to race madly as the moonlight seemed to shine blindingly and a dark form appeared in his window. He gasped, but found he could not speak or move as a man who looked exactly like him came easily in through the window and paused in front of him.

"Go," he said in the noble's own voice, "And take this to him."

Byakuya shivered as a green-hilted sword was placed in his hand.

"Hide this in his cell until it is time to free him. Make sure that you do not unbind him. You will tell him that you are going to help him escape. And eventually, you will...in a manner of speaking. In any case, go. I will be here until you return."

Byakuya moved aside as the reigai laid down and feigned sleep. He hesitated, staring out the window as the soul king's voice sounded in his mind.

_You were made for this, Byakuya. Go now and do as I have commanded you. That prisoner is in desperate need of hope. You, my love, are going to give that hope to him. Go!_

Byakuya felt a warning constriction in his chest and broke out in an anxious sweat. He slipped out the window, noting the oddness of passing directly by the guards around the hospital without any even seeming to notice him. And he passed through the dark streets, alone and silent, his heart pounding harder with every step he took in the direction of the Central 46 chambers.

_For that is where you must go. But do not worry. Just as I have hidden you from the eyes of those guards, I will allow you to pass, unseen, into the heart of Muken! Hurry now, Byakuya! He waits for you._

Byakuya's mind spun at the truth in the whispered words as he reached Central 46 and simply walked past the front guards and opened the front doors without challenge. He passed the checkpoints as the guards went blithely about their duties, none noticing the sixth division taicho as he closed in on his target. He reached the lowest level of the prison, still unchallenged, then walked slowly to the door of Aizen's cell and paused. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, the door had opened as well. He walked into the cell as the door closed behind him.

Aizen Sousuke's one uncovered eye opened and looked up at him, and a wicked smile came to his lips.

"Kuchiki Byakuya," he said sedately, "To what do I owe this honor? It has been a long time. So...tell me. Why have you come to me, Byakuya?"

The noble moved closer, his feet tapping lightly against the hard stone with each hesitant step. He stopped in front of his former comrade, his dark, gray eyes glaring down at him and his lovely lips downturned.

"It grieves me to do so," he said softly, observing the other man's expression closely, "But by order of the king, I am going to free you."


	4. The Seduction

**Chapter 4: The Seduction**

"You are going to free me," Aizen repeated slowly, disbelief in his voice, "If that is so, then by all means, Byakuya, release me from my bindings."

Byakuya's dark, lovely eyes glowered at him warningly.

"His majesty does not wish for it to be known that you have left Muken for the royal realm. For reasons of his own, he wishes you to arrive secretly. He has instructed me how to do this. And as a sign of his good will, he sends you this gift."

Aizen's eye widened as Byakuya held up Aizen's completely restored weapon.

"Kyoka Suigetsu," he breathed, "but my Kyoka Suigetsu crumbled."

"The will of the king was that it should be returned to you, and so it is done," Byakuya said softly, sliding the weapon into a hidden place beneath Aizen's chair.

The prisoner's lips curved upward and a pleased shine came into his eye.

"What else did his majesty order you to do, Byakuya?" he asked, observing the noble closely.

"Before we can leave here, I must place a different kind of seal upon the hogyoku," Byakuya explained, "I will accomplish this with the repeated infusions of the area around the orb with a reiatsu his majesty filled my body with before sending me to you. He wants to be very sure that neither you nor this device are harmful to him when you go to meet him."

"Hmmm," Aizen mused, studying Byakuya more closely, "I see. And what if I do not wish to leave my cell to see him?"

"You would prefer to remain here, waiting for Urahara to figure out a way to deprive you of that thing in your chest so that Central 46 can execute you?"

"Urahara is nowhere near..." Aizen began.

"He is nearer than you would like to think," Byakuya said, laying his hands on Aizen's bound wrists and glaring down at him, "You would do well to be cooperative. Although I am his majesty's servant and I am tasked with bringing you to him, I despise you and I take no pleasure in doing any of this!"

"I can see that," Aizen responded, smirking at the noble's obvious displeasure, "But you are a creature of dedication to duty, aren't you? I don't think that you will deviate from his that man's orders for any reason."

"No," Byakuya replied in a clipped tone.

He reached down and slowly began to unbind the area around the hogyoku as Aizen went quiet, watching with guarded eyes. The prisoner was quick to note that Byakuya's reiatsu became progressively more unsettled, even riled, as the orb was gradually exposed. His breathing quickened and the centers of his dark, gray eyes dilated and took on a strange, reddish glow. And the power that formed around his slender hands and graceful fingers as he lightly caressed the orb was clearly beyond anything Aizen had known his Gotei colleague to possess. But the feeling wasn't just powerful. It had a deep malevolence that seemed to belie having come from such a creature as the soul king. Aizen was quickly left with the disquieting sense that there was something more at work than the noble had said...perhaps more than he knew. Byakuya's current behavior, while remaining generally in line with how the former taichou remembered him was just slightly off.

_Something is wrong with this..._

"So, tell me," he said, watching the noble closely, "How did this power come to you? Were you called to the spirit realm?"

Byakuya regarded him for a moment through one warning gray eye and huffed a soft, dismissive breath.

"That is not for you to know. Your only task is to sit quietly and cooperate until you and the hogyoku have been prepared for our journey."

"Ah, then you are to escort me to the spirit realm personally? I am honored."

"Do not be. It is simply that, for the use of this sealing power, I am creating a bond between our bodies. The power within me will hold the seal in place."

"But that seems dangerous," Aizen commented, "After all, I then need only to incapacitate, escape or kill you to free myself."

"I assure you that the answer isn't nearly so simple as that," Byakuya said warningly, "But you are free to attempt to kill me if you wish. You will find it is a waste of effort."

"I see," Aizen mused, frowning as Byakuya's head bowed and his eyes closed.

His lips moved and the soft syllables that he emitted seemed to carry that same dark weight as the power around his hands. Aizen felt the hogyoku come to alertness, then sensed its concern.

_What is this? What is he doing?_

Aizen frowned more deeply, watching as Byakuya flinched uncomfortably and lowered himself onto his knees, reaching out and placing his hands on the hogyoku again.

_Stop him!_

_And how do you expect I will do that? _Aizen queried, _It seems that until we have been taken from this cell, we can do nothing to help ourselves. Our chances of escape are better if we let him proceed._

_You do not understand, _the orb communicated with increased urgency, _There is something very dark about the power that this shinigami is using._

_You think that Byakuya was lying about it? I wouldn't put it past him to lie, cheat, steal or even whore himself in service to that bastard king he serves. Really, if I was king, I would find far better uses for him than sending him to slaughter like this._

_We are the ones being led to slaughter._

_What do you mean? You know this?_

_I feel it. You would too, if you would stop looking with your eyes and just sense what is in front of you. Look at his eyes...the glow in the center. And his behavior, doesn't it seem wrong to you?"_

_What are you suggesting?_

_This power that burns me down to the very core is not the power of the king._

_The king didn't send Byakuya, then? But if not, then who did?_

_Who indeed. _

"Byakuya," Aizen said quietly, "Why don't you tell me who really sent you? I think we both know that it wasn't the king. He would never use such a power as this. It defies his nature."

Byakuya only glared at him and continued to let the dark power rise around his hands. Aizen's gaze intensified as dark, cloudy swirls of distortion curled out of the noble's slender body and began to wrap around the two of them. The noble's strangely piercing eyes met his and the red centers flared brightly.

"This is the binding necessary for the seal to be placed," Byakuya explained, "It will open your spirit centers to release the power needed to forge our connection. But do not hope to interfere with it as it flows. It is not under your control."

And indeed, as the prisoners spirit centers began to throb and pulse strangely under their seal, he could not direct that flow, or affect it in any way. He watched with dark curiosity as Byakuya's spirit centers, too, fell under the control of the strange power he was wielding.

Aizen felt a soft jolt of surprise and another flash of warning as Byakuya flinched and made a sound of discomfort. Sweat broke out on the noble's too pale face and his hands shook softly.

"Are you all right?" Aizen asked, "It does not look as though you are tolerating the use of this power well. Perhaps you should stop now, Byakuya."

Byakuya only made a more pronounced exclamation of pain and continued the flow of power through their spirit centers. A moment later, he gasped and his eyes widened. Aizen's gaze darkened as he sensed that his reiatsu had bound itself to the noble's and very slowly, the flow reversed. Byakuya's eyes closed and his face wore a look of agony as his reiatsu was gradually removed.

"What is this? What are you really doing?" Aizen hissed.

He knew better than to expect any kind of answer. Even if Byakuya didn't look to be nearly beside himself, there was no way he would give away the mechanism that was allowing him to overcome the hogyoku.

But whatever was being done to the seething orb, something far more horrendous was happening to the noble. Byakuya sank to his hands and knees, gasping and panting furiously. And it occurred to the still-bound prisoner that his reiatsu was being sucked away. His face went deathly pale and he finally collapsed completely at Aizen's feet.

"All of this to place a seal?" Aizen mused aloud, "I don't think so. But you aren't of a mind, nor are you in any shape for explanations. I wonder, Byakuya, do you regret now that you fought for him? Look how he uses his servants. I am concerned that he would destroy you to get what he wants. Does this not concern you?"

Byakuya remained on the floor as the power flow roared to its zenith and the pain of what was happening finally became unbearable. Then, Aizen Sousuke was treated to the haunting sight of Kuchiki Byakuya screaming in pain and writhing as he was completely emptied of power. He went silent and still as the last of his reiatsu was depleted. Aizen wondered briefly if he might have ceased breathing, but then spotted the soft flutter of his chest and heard him make a softer sound of discomfort.

For several long minutes, the cell went quiet and still. Byakuya remained unresponsive, even as Aizen tried repeatedly to provoke him. He recovered in stages, first just lying on the floor and breathing slowly, in and out. Then sitting up carefully and looking down at his hands.

"You look confused," Aizen observed, "What was that you did, Byakuya?"

"You know quite well what that was," Byakuya answered finally, "I had to be emptied of the power the king infused me with, and then that power was poured into the seal. I will need to stabilize the seal for a time before it is at full power. You will wait here in your cell until that happens."

Byakuya braced himself on the chair that the prisoner was bound to, and slowly raised himself to his feet. He turned to go, but then paused and swayed. One slender hand caught onto the part of the chair where Aizen's hand was bound, and their eyes met again.

"You look like you are about to pass out," Aizen observed.

"I am fine."

But as he tried to move again, the feeling of emptiness became overwhelming, and he dropped slowly to his knees in front of Aizen, leaning wearily against the man's bound legs. The prisoner felt a soft twinge of sympathy as the noble rested where he was, his head bowed and his hands holding on to the chair so that he wouldn't collapse all of the way again.

"You need a healer," Aizen said more firmly, "You can certainly summon one..."

"I told you I am fine," Byakuya insisted, "I am merely responding to the shock of the sudden depletion of reiatsu."

He went quiet again, and as he sat solemnly at Aizen's feet, recovering, it occurred to the prisoner that it seemed less like he was recovering and more as though he was waiting for something. As if to punctuate the thought, a sudden burning rose in his chest, and he looked down to see that the hogyoku was glowing with much the same caste as Byakuya's eyes had been.

_What is happening to you? _he asked the orb.

A dark chill went through him as he received no reply. He glared down at Byakuya, who only gazed back at him with an almost predatory look.

"I will ask you again what you are doing," Aizen said in a low, dangerous voice, "because I think we both know that this is not a seal. I cannot speak to the hogyoku! It is fused with me. Even sealed, it should be able to speak through our connection. What have you done, Byakuya?"

"What do you expect?" Byakuya hissed in a voice Aizen had never heard him use before, "Do you think that I would allow you two to scheme to undo me as we make our journey? Under the seal, the hogyoku will be completely isolated. And when you arrive in the spirit realm, it will be separated from you! You can see then how the king will deal with you."

"I believe that I would rather take my chances here, serving my long sentence. But that was never an option, was it?"

"No."

"Then, it is clear, Byakuya, that it was not the king who sent you on this foul errand. As much as I do not hold with his viewpoints, I know him to be more honorable than to do something like this! This is something else, someone else."

"I don't know what you are talking about," Byakuya insisted, "I have followed his majesty's orders, from beginning to end. You have been here too long and have become paranoid."

"I don't think so," Aizen replied darkly.

He started to say more, but paused as an odd throbbing feeling passed through him. He met Byakuya's eyes and noted that they looked almost hungry. And as much as he looked to have a desire to feed, Aizen felt a growing need to feed him. As the moments passed, the voracious look in Byakuya's dark eyes grew and deepened, and Aizen's body ached and throbbed to join with him.

"Byakuya..." he breathed softly, watching as the words impacted the other man, making him turn and move closer.

Their eyes remained locked as Byakuya faced him, glaring down meaningfully into his eyes as though feeding on them, then ever so slowly, sliding onto his lap. He lowered his lips to touch the prisoner's, and a numbing jolt passed through them. The noble's eyes remained open and locked on Aizen as his mouth fastened hard on the prisoner's, and Aizen felt something exiting his body and entering Byakuya's. Tasting the first bits of satiating reiatsu, Byakuya bit at the other man's lips impatiently, moving atop his body and causing a warm, erotic friction between them. They kissed harder, and Aizen felt that something was happening that was much darker than the two of them surrendering to their passions, which he was sure they would not ever have done on their own. He tried to pull away, but was betrayed by his own body as Byakuya's rubbed against it, and the noble's hands unbound the area of his body that had grown hottest and was most starving for some kind of attention.

He started to object, but had the breath stolen from his chest as Byakuya rose up slightly, then sank down, joining their bodies in a single, painful thrust that left him gasping. And any sense that this was still Byakuya, the noble clan leader and Gotei taichou that Aizen knew went spinning away as the redness in the centers of his eyes glowed hotter and lost all sign of recognition. Aizen too, felt the leaving of his senses and the desperate hunger that was taking them over. All he longed to do was to feel the rise and fall of that lovely body on his. He felt his concern over the hogyoku, his suspicions about the king...everything dropping away as Byakuya loosed a predatory growl and clenched at his shoulders, writhing harder and fighting for breath as the two neared release. They climaxed together, and as the first shudders of erotic bliss shook them, Aizen heard the chilling sound of the hogyoku's scream in his mind. His eyes met Byakuya's again, and he felt a tearing sensation in his chest. It was a devilish blend of pleasure and pain as he loosed himself into Byakuya's shaking body, then watched the noble collapse atop him and go perfectly still. He remained there, ignoring Aizen's repeated demands for explanation, then dragged himself to his feet and set the bindings back in place. Without another word, he left Aizen's cell, the dark power around him dissipating as the distance between them grew.

For some time after, he found himself still unable to speak to the hogyoku. And when its voice did return to his mind, it was nearly frantic.

_Aizen Sousuke, you must not let that shinigami back in here with you. He is lying to you. what he did was not any kind of seal._

_Then, what did he do to you? _the prisoner asked.

_I do not know. But I know this. Some of my power is gone._

_It drained your reiatsu?_

_No, _the orb informed him, _It stole some part of me. I cannot explain it, but I feel weaker!_

The words gnawed at Aizen's mind as the silent hours of his imprisonment advanced. And he felt a deep sense of relief as the door to his cell opened and a guard came in to check his bindings.

"Tsutomu," he said, remembering the man's name from when he had come in before, "I must ask you something. Who gave permission for Kuchiki Byakuya to enter my cell? I know that visits are carefully restricted, so by whose order was he allowed to enter?"

"What are you talking about?" the guard asked, firing a shaft of ice through Aizen's veins, "Kuchiki taicho hasn't been here. He is lying unconscious in the fourth division."

"What? Since when?"

"Earlier today," the guard said, finishing the check of his bindings, "He was kidnapped and disappeared for a few days, but his cousin and fukutaicho rescued him."

Aizen stared uncomprehendingly as the guard left him alone again, and was forced to contemplate in the darkness as the silence around him returned.

_What madness is this? Not the king, surely. Someone else has enslaved Byakuya's mind and body then? But why? What do they want?_

_I think you know what they want, _the hogyoku's voice whispered worriedly, _They want me!_


End file.
